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User blog:TheRexVoxian/North Sky 101: Lost
Lost by Coldplay A large SUV rolls up on the road near a sprawling school, where students from all around gather for their first day at the newly rebuilt Northcreek High School. A face is peeping out from the window of the SUV, and it's an expression of uncertainty. "I don't know anyone here." She says, looking around for any familiar faces in the compound as more and more push open the doors. "Ugh, why did we have to leave Chicago.." "Relax, Alice, you'll make new friends. I heard this school is brand new, so just make some friends, okay?" Her mom reassures her from the front seat, but Alice seems unmoved, still frantic on how to fit in at her new high school. "Trust me, you'll soon agree that moving to Aurora was the best thing that ever happened to you." But, Alice simply continued slouching in her seat, dreary-eyed and as if she turned her mother to silent mode, blocking out any sound that escaped from her mouth. "Oh I can't believe it, you know. It's your first day of high school. We should take a picture." "Another!?" Alice exclaimed and slid open the door, stomping her way to the steps of the school, not giving a single glance back. "Alice Na!" Her mom scolds loudly, to which Alice turns around in response, and gathering the attention of several students around. "Mom!" Alice murmurs, embarrassed, her cheeks stained red. "You have to say goodbye." Her mom says. Alice looks around, her legs shaking a little, her mouth in a straight line. "Fine. Bye, mom." "Goodbye sweetie!" OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO Alice stumbles and pushes open the door. The floor is shiny. Like it's brand new. She lost herself in the school, prancing around the winding corridors gaily, whilst absorbing her enigmatic surroundings, in wide-eyed curiosity. She broke from her trance and searched for her locker. It felt awkward, being pushed around by random bulky jocks that reminded her of her older brother in grade 11, their deep rough voices and musky body odor making her skin crawl, watching peppy rich girls talk about their mini skirts, and a group of metalheads who wouldn't mind blasting their raucous music in the halls with small speakers. She was a nobody, and that was possibly the worst feeling ever. It wasn't like the way it was back in Chicago. She was the reticent one in class, and had always been. Her father worked in Aurora, with her brother attending Beckinsdale High, and her mother stayed behind in Chicago with her. It was fun while it lasted, she thought. But the moment her mother realized something was up, something about her father, she brought up the idea of moving in at Aurora to reunite the family, to bond more, and enrolled in the new school down the street, the school both she and her brother are attending now, despite her having ulterior motives. She used her combination, and pinched her nose, but she didn't need to. Her locker was brand new, with a splash of an aquatic palatinate blue; something she had never seen at a school before. She wiped her hand on the sides, realizing how there wasn't even a hint of rust. It was a chance to be responsible with something: taking care of her locker. Alice never got into trouble at her middle school. She had friends but hadn't developed much of an identity to be noticed. There were people who were playing at violin concerts and singing on center stage at the auditorium but, sitting there and watching everyone express themselves, was an expression of identity to her as well, and it wasn't a crime to be different. "Sigh. I miss Chicago." Alice muttered under her breath. She unloaded her books, items and valuables into her locker, and arranged it in a neat order. "Perfect." She thought. Eventually, she began to take note that the noise behind her had dissipated. Was it simply her imagination? She turned to see that the halls were empty, and the bell had rung. She slammed her locker closed, and whipped out the map of the school. "Oh crap... where's the class I'm supposed to go to." She said to herself, soaking in her own voice surrounded by silence. She ran back and forth, realizing each classroom was empty. The assembly hall. Upon reaching the assembly hall, which was conveniently the first thing you'd see upon entering the school, a man whose hair was almost finished graying wearing glasses with circular lenses, presumably the principal, had just started his speech. "A very good morning to the student body, I'm Maximilian Wolfe, you can call me Mr. Wolfe, and I'll be your principal for this school year, and hopefully in the years to come. We'd like to welcome all of you to Northcreek High School. Almost all of you are new faces here, arriving in from neighboring schools Beckinsdale High and St. George High and some from as far as the state of California. Nevertheless, we'd like to welcome all of you to this school. However, there are some familiar faces, as before this school was rebuilt at the beginning of this year, it burned down in a chaotic fire. We're going to be sure that doesn't happen again, and have enforced strict rules. On a lighter note, I'd like to announce that the titles for football captain, class president, and many other clubs are open, and are in need of a leader. Also, since this is the start of the year, it's the perfect time to start any clubs! So just sign up at the office with a roster of at least 6 people who want to join. Any football captains or class presidents? Sign yourself up!" It sounded more like an advertisement rather than a professional speech, and Alice rolled her eyes. "WOO! Yeah!" Her sight focused on a group of grade 11s donning varsity jackets and causing a minor ruckus, nudging each other with laughter. "Wow. It's Brandon." She thought, wondering why she hadn't noticed sooner. Brandon and she hadn't developed a close relationship. The boys of the house left before she could even try to understand them, and she was left with her conservative-minded mother and sent to a girls' school, and it was as if the leftover femininity was dripping from her and leaving a trail leading all the way back to their shabby but nostalgic bungalow in Chicago. She wished she could follow that trail all the way back home. "Where am I going to start." Her mind spoke more in thoughts than in words, and her speech was normally left scattered around while her mind spoke in full sentences, and told a story, rather than a soliloquy. That was why she always could ace an essay and not a project that required her to speak up. Sometimes she thought she was a stutterer or had a speech impediment. But she seemed just too normal for that. Too normal for even a high school. OoOoOoOoOoO Each step was like an awkward pause in a conversation. She didn't know what to do. Follow with the rhythm or start speaking up? This was a new environment. She could be someone new, or someone popular or not be known at all, but completely mysterious. Now is the time to make the decision. She watched idly as everyone entered grade 9 French class, staring into blank space, as she held the door open for everyone, not even a single person asking how she felt. "Bonjour, students. I'm Mr Louis. Pronounced 'Lou-ee' and not 'Lou-iss', if you have any prior knowledge on how to pronounce basic French, whether you can or not, I do not freaking care. I'll be your french teacher for the whole of your freshman year." She heard from the inside of the classroom. Before she could take a step in, the teacher called her. "Wait... are you by chance," Mr Louis picked up the checkpad. "Renee Koniaris?" "No." Alice corrected, with every word coming out stumbled and irregular. "Alice Na." "Sorry, what was that?" Mr Louis said, his accent sounding like came from Brooklyn, and he smelled of New York coffee too. "You can't just mumble like that, especially in my class." "Alice." Trying to stall the French teacher. "Alice what?" "Alice Na." Everyone's attention started to drift towards her slowly the moment she mentioned her last name, her fingers curling up like withering, dying rose stems, and she soon noticed everyone looking at her, as if the name sounded so familiar. "Alice Na. You... by chance related to Brandon Na in grade 11?" Mr Louis said, but interrupted her from answering that question, causing her to sink in her own humiliation and sweat. "He was such a goofball, in a very bad way. Never failed any of his classes, but I really don't like him and I really hope I never teach that guy, again. Haha. I hope you're not in any way related to him in terms of your behavior. So... take your seat right there, Miss Na." Alice meandered slowly, and awkwardly trying to avoid the stares that were being directed straight at her, and each of the eyes that were looking at her felt like knives piercing her self esteem. She sat herself down, where two people from both sides beside her were passing notes between each other, and Alice sitting there didn't seem to change their routine, and instead, they passed it to Alice, and told her to pass it to the person next to her. Their names were RJ and Robyn. Robyn was a really jumpy girl it seemed, from her frequent usage of "OMG" and "FTW" and "THAT'S FUCKING CRAZY" in all caps, further emphasized with red pen. She had strawberry blonde hair that went straight down to her waist, and giggled each time she started writing on the piece of paper, making the strands of hair shake and reflect off light like they were rays of the sun. RJ was an African-American guy that had really short yet curly hair and was mild-mannered it seemed but gave a smug grin each time he passed the note to Alice to be passed to Robyn. She could read their conversation, and watched as it drifted from the french teacher being a possible pedophile, as a joke, and on to more jokes and rumors, and then something about a toilet being broken on the 2nd floor. She wondered why Mr Louis hadn't even noticed them yet. Suddenly, the note was passed to her, and it didn't budge. None of them tried to get it from her. She tried to pass it to Robyn who was next to her, but she noticed Robyn and RJ were waiting for her to read it. She felt the creased paper in her hands, and realized they had used up all the space on the paper. With one last entry. "... Robyn and RJ: So... are you really related to Brandon? P.S. Can you get us new paper to write on. lol." Alice smiled, and from her stack of things pulled out a writing pad, much to Robyn and RJ's surprise. Alice wrote the first entry. "Alice: Yes, unfortunately. Heard he's known around for being a douchebag around and everywhere. It's complicated. I didn't know him for that long because we lived away from each other. But he seems like an asshole already." Alice finished the last few words with her pen, and took notice that Robyn and RJ were looking over her to see what she was writing, and they took turns to write simultaneously. "RJ: Oh he's more than just an asshole." RJ quickly wrote and sprung back into position to avoid grabbing the attention of Mr Louis. "Robyn: ... or a douchebag." Robyn wrote right after that. RJ looked over, and gave a facial expression, raising his eyebrows as if he was asking permission. I nodded, which led him to tear away the writing paper from the pad, and wrote something. "RJ: You seem like coolbeans. Wanna sit with us at lunch? You gotta promise us you're not like your brother though." Robyn put up an emotionless expression on her face when he read what RJ wrote, but I brushed it off and wrote something in reply. "Alice: Sure, and I assure you I'm not like him at all :D" OoOoOoOoOoO The cafeteria was crowded with dozens or even hundreds of students. It was a big hall, almost comparable to a food court. Maybe that was what it was, a food court. Not a cafeteria. Alice, RJ and Robyn emerged from the entrance and were already in the midst of conversation. "So, your brother really doesn't know anything about you, and you haven't seen him for more than two years?" RJ said in surprise to Alice. "Yeah. My parents are so busy that they can't even see each other." Alice scoffed. "It's like one's living in Moscow and the other in Kenya." "My ancestors come from Kenya." RJ declared. "Oh that's cool. Like Barack Obama!" Alice smiled and it seemed the two were getting along well with each other. "Mine came from China!" However, Robyn didn't seem amused at all. Robyn had a way of showing her emotion, and it was always messed up. She'd laugh a lot when she were angry, she'd smile when she were sad and when she's actually happy, she's too happy, bursting with bubbles of joy. "That's true. Did you hear they say his birth certificate isn't real?" RJ continued, and Alice was really into the conversation. "Wow!" Alice exclaimed. "He's the president." "OH I thought the president was Mitt Romney." Robyn burst out sarcastically, much to the surprise of RJ and Alice, and they didn't seem to notice the sense of sarcasm. "Robyn, hehe, you okay? Where've you been for the last two years. Obama's the president remember?" RJ waved his hand in front of her face as she said. "Ugh." Robyn rolled her eyes. "You all right, Robyn?" Alice was unsure about how to react, and could see that Robyn wasn't comfortable with her presence. "Yup, completely fucking fine." Robyn grinned wide, successfully intimidating Alice. "Um. I'll just go get some food over there. Like... pizza or something." Alice mumbled. "You can go discuss stuff. I'm still sitting with you guys... right?" There was no answer from Robyn. RJ nodded slowly, and began to smile again a little. As Alice drew away further, RJ and Robyn seemed to begin chatting immediately after she left. OoOoOoOoOoO Alice thought that RJ made her feel good, in a way that she didn't need to mumble, stumble or stutter whenever she tried to think of words when in a conversation. It didn't seem that bad at all. Alice's mouth curled into a light smile, but then turned into a frown when a familiar face showed up out of the blue in his varsity jacket. "HEY!" He called, trying to catch her attention with his loud and raspy voice. "Sis!" "Shit." Alice muttered to herself, and quickly made an attempt to act like she didn't notice, but was slightly shocked when Brandon put his arms around her, to which she shrugged and pushed away harshly in response. "Hey, Alice, why the hostility?" "Why are you here? It's freshman lunchtime. People from other grades aren't allowed here. It's against the rules." "Alice, now listen to me," He slurred a little and almost seemed drunk. "You have got to stop caring about the dang rules." He then proceeded to waltz over to a random table full of girls and took a drink and their fries, slurping the drink dry, eating only two of the fries in the packet, and then throwing all of it on the floor to Alice's disgust, and many others'. "Oh great it's Brandon Na. What a fucking dickhead. He's so hot. Oh my god is that girl his sister?" Were one of the many responses she heard from the people in the food court. Some drew disgust from her, some drew senses of agreement. She held her head high and tried her best to ignore them. But stares. So many. It was hard to think straight. Especially when your reputation was at risk, and no matter what people say, first impressions always mattered to Alice Na. OoOoOoOoOoO "Hey, so how's the lunch? What did you get?" Alice asked RJ and Robyn. "Isn't it obvious?" RJ muffled with his mouth full, his lips covered with bits of lettuce. "A saendvich." "Jesus christ, RJ that is so gross!" Robyn took a napkin and wiped the bits off of his face for him. "Oops, broke the second commandment, sorry jesus." "I got a salad. Caesar." Robyn described to Alice, and seemed to have calmed down from earlier. "I like having them with croutons, you know, the crunchy french bread bits. They're coolbeans." Alice told them she ordered a pizza, and they seemed to be getting along, at least she thought so, and continued on talking. She even noticed that they were so close some of the vocabulary they used were the same. OoOoOoOoOoO Alice walked down the road to her new home, and gazed at the western sky as the sun was setting, she wondered at the beauty of it. Most of the time she would do that with a lot of things: let her mind wander off and stare. It was fun to do, and she would ponder on why she was doing it even. She walked up to her new home, and whipped out her keys to open the gate. Her hands fumbled in her pocket, and she got them, the intricate metal shifting between her fingers. Lifting it to turn the lock, she realized something. It refused to turn. How could that be? It dawned upon her that these were the keys for her old house back at Chicago. She slowly sunk to her knees in frustration. She wished she was back in Chicago. She wished her friends came with her. She wished her mother didn't suspect. She wanted to be home. Aurora would never be the same as it was back there. Every thing about her said "Chicago". She wanted the smokey streets where she used to run around, she wanted the garden where her mother would help water the tulips and the little wild rabbit that she would feed every day. And as those thoughts spun and spun around like a spinning top, her mind grew weary and tired, and the sun set. It would be a little dangerous to wait out here till her mother, her father and hopefully not her brother to bring her home. But it was too sudden... far too sudden for her to get used to this... words were slurred and thoughts were murky like a swamp. Her consciousness ebbed away at her and she drifted to sleep with her head rested on the gate. OoOoOoOoOoO Her bed. *whoosh* And her head rose up. Alice looked around. She was in her room, which she could see her brother's door was closed shut. She opened it slowly, causing it to creak a little and saw her brother smoking a cigarette near his bedroom window. "Oh my god!" Alice yelled. "What!" He shouted in surprise, hiding under. "Alice, what the fuck are you doing back here. Is knocking something mom didn't teach you how to do?" Brandon was a little angry, but seemed to simmer down slowly. "What, is being rude something dad taught you how to do?" Alice scoffed. It was weird. It seemed they were fed misleading information about each parent's significant other. "Did dad.. tell you that?" Alice asked. "And did... mom tell you that?" Brandon asked her too. "Answer my question first." Alice demanded. "Geez, fine." Brandon said. He rose to an upright position and continued covering himself. He patted on the bed and gestured Alice to sit down. "Eww I don't wanna sit where your sweat and possibly semen has stained is." Alice backed away. "I swear to god, Alice." He took his towel and placed it over where Alice was meant to sit. "Can you just grin and bear with it? Please?" "Yeah whatever. I can't believe I'm living with you now." Alice derided, sitting on his wet towel, and she noticed Brandon had just bathed too. "Why are you smoking." Alice added. "You'll die faster." "Everyone dies in the end, whether you or I die faster doesn't matter." "Touche. But mom will kill you if she sees you doing that." "Whatever, I don't have time to live up to your classy lifestyle." "Geez." "Anyway, yeah dad has been cheating on mom." Brandon admitted to her. "But he'll lay her down easy. Don't tell mom and ruin what he has planned." "What he has planned!? Lay her down easy!? What the hell is he gonna do?" Alice shouted. "And is this room soundproof or something?" "Come with me." Brandon led her to the staircase, where an argument between their parents was at full throttle. His towel almost fell to the floor, but he picked it up before his sister followed him. "That's why they can't hear us." "Wow. I remember this. When I was like... 8." Alice sighed, and Brandon nodded to. "I hate it. A lot." Brandon told her. "It's why I wish you and mom didn't move in with us... but you don't seem like a bad kid after all. Actually, no. You're a bit of a pain in the butt. Don't come in next time without knocking." Brandon noogied her on her head to which she didn't like very much, and waltzed off back to his bedroom. Alice gazed at the dinner light, and held on to the rails of the stairs, sitting down and holding her knees up against her. Maybe it wasn't too bad after all. This was the first day of her new life, and was a first for everything. She made new 'friends', and had a conversation with her brother, and saw an oddly, different side to him she had probably overlooked before, and realized why her mother wanted to come. It was confronation. Not an attempt at bonding together. It was the sad truth but she had to come to terms with it, and someday it wouldn't work anymore and things would break apart from whence they came. Alice stole away to her bedroom window, and ogled at the stars once more, the few stars visible, surviving the distasteful light pollution of the Aurora skyline. One, two, three, four, she counted, and recognized that a single star was missing from the complete five she saw in Chicago, that star was her happiness, her hope and her joy, but she took this opportunity to look at it differently. Perhaps that star was the false hopes, assumptions she had left behind at Chicago, and now perhaps the star will come back, symbolizing the dawning of knowledge. Something she always wanted to see. The real world. OoOoOoOoOoO Next time on North Sky... Kalan "Kale" Seymour is one of the most good-looking guys in grade 11. He's got the looks, the brawn but no brains. To kickstart off the new school year as well as his junior year, he holds a party while his conservative Mormon parents are away, and while he suspects everything will be under control... anything can happen. OoOoOoOoOoO Category:Blog posts